The most common method of storing books, records and similar articles has been to stack them on shelves or in cabinets. Shelves and cabinets are generally expensive and take up considerable amounts of wall and floor space. Considerable efforts have been made as evidenced by the patent literature to improve various hanging devices for books and similar articles such as records, files and the like. As examples of the state of the art, the following list of patents is offered as general background information for this invention and it is not intended by their listing that they are either relevant or represent the most relevant prior art; U.S. Pat. Nos. 237,163; 856,748; 869,379; 1,088,012; 1,133,655; 1,238,899; 1,379,719; 1,475,451; 1,680,302; 1,779,095; 1,798,656; 2,215,163; 2,523,129; 3,174,626; 3,826,582; 4,181,381 and 4,200,945; Swiss Pat. No. 357,706; German Pat. No. 1,218,995; French Pat. No. 1,480,273 and British Pat. Appln. No. 2,013,080.
As may be appreciated by the above patent art covering the time from the early 1900's, many hanging devices or holders of books for mounting on vertical surfaces have been proposed. Hook-like members have been recessed in either the cover or a corner of the book for cooperation with rails that have been mounted on a wall. An example of such a hanging device is shown in Swiss Pat. No. 357,706 (1958), issued to Sutter which discloses a book hanger assembly in which hooks are strategically recessed in the front and back cover portions of a book for mounting on a rail member with a lower bar supporting the lower edge of the book on the vertical surface. Another example of a hanging device assembly is disclosed in U.K. Pat. Appln. No. 2,013,080 (1979) which discloses one or more hook members adapted to be rigidly secured to an object and an elongated strip adapted to be secured to the wall such that a hook member may be secured to the object by adhesive and hung on the elongated strip.
Generally speaking, a more effective means for safely holding books on a wall is desired. While on the one hand, the structure should provide a positive locking or mating of the hook member to the wall mounting means, the design must facilitate the placement and removal of the book or article from its mount. Furthermore, when one considers the considerable weight of books which would be stored in such fashion along the wall, balanced against the desirable small size of the hooking means to make it as innocuous as possible, considerable design constraints and problems are presented. There are also special stress problems generated by any mounting assemblies that require very detailed consideration of materials. One must also consider the shearing effects and pulling forces to which such materials are subjected in use. Therefore, while at first blush a satisfactory design of a hanging assembly appears to present a simplified problem, it is quickly apparent that solution to the many problems existing in the fabrication of a hanging device become quite complex.
In light of this background of the art, improvements are still desired for article hanging devices designed to provide an attractive low cost alternative to storing and displaying books, records and other articles. There is also a desire to be able to achieve unique decorative effects in providing such new hanging devices. Simplified, strong and serviceable products are also desired that facilitate easy placement and removal of stored articles onto walls or similar such vertical surfaces. Further improvements in the art are needed in order to achieve these and other objectives.